For over five decades, the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC) has played a vital role in assisting schools with school improvement. There are two primary functions in our process: one is to provide quality assurance, we have specific criteria that schools have to meet in order to be accredited. Second, and more important for us, is whether or not a school is adding value to the experience of children and whether they engage in a school improvement process. The ACS WASC process provides the foundation for a culture of clear understanding of a school's purpose and schoolwide student goals and for the analysis of achievement and actions to improve learning.

ACS WASC accreditation is a powerful process for school improvement and student success. Internalizing ACS WASC accreditation is synonymous with ongoing school improvement and meaningful change, thereby providing the underpinning for the effective functioning of a school.

The accreditation process is a perpetual cycle of assessment, planning, implementing, monitoring, and reassessment (self-study, visit, and follow-up). During the year prior to the visit, a school clarifies or redefines its expected student learner outcomes (schoolwide learner outcomes) and begins the formal self-study process that assesses the actual student program with respect to the criteria. The self-study process culminates in the development of a three- to five-year schoolwide action plan.

Year Five: Review of all Profile Data, Progress Report, Progress and Program Analysis (beginning of next Self-Study), revision of the schoolwide action plan

Year Six: Completion of Self-Study, including refinement of schoolwide action plan, visit by ACS WASC Team, revision of the schoolwide action plan after the visit

Subsequent to the visit, the school refines and implements the action plan. The Leadership Team coordinates this implementation, annual review of progress, and the refinement of the "next steps" of the action plan in meeting the goals. All the follow-up is done with respect to evidence that students are accomplishing the established schoolwide learner outcomes.

The components of the Single Plan for Student Achievement and the components of the ACS AWSC Focus on Learning action plan are in harmony. The components are identical in concept; the specific actions of the Single Plan for Student Achievement are expressed in more detail. The incorporation of the ACS WASC critical areas for follow-up into the Single Plan for Student Achievement fulfills the requirements of the school improvement process — one plan satisfies both entities.

Single Plan for Student Achievement Components (SPSA)

School goal

Link to LEA goals

Data used-who was involved

Growth targets

Ways of measuring student achievement

Evaluation of implementation

Monitoring progress

Strategies/actions

Personnel

Start/completion date

Funding source/amount

ACS WASC Suggested Action Plan Components

Area of improvement

Link to schoolwide learner outcomes

Rationale

Growth targets

Ways of assessing student achievement

Means of monitoring

Specific tasks/actions

Who is responsible /involved

Timeline

Resources

ACS WASC SUGGESTED COMPONENTS

SINGLE PLAN FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT COMPONENTS

Area of improvement

School goal

Link to schoolwide learner outcomes

Link to LEA goals

Rationale

Data used—who was involved

Growth targets

Growth targets for focus students

Ways of assessing student achievement

Ways of measuring student achievement

Means of monitoring and evaluating

Process for monitoring and evaluating

Specific tasks/actions

Strategies/actions

Who is responsible/involved

Personnel involved

Timeline

Start/completion date

Resources

Proposed expenditures

Updating the Action Plan

Following the full self-study visit and annually on an ongoing basis:

Review the current schoolwide action plan sections and the critical areas for follow-up in the Visiting Committee Report.

Identify the concepts or suggested ideas stated in the critical areas for follow-up.

Integrate all appropriate concepts and suggested ideas from the Visiting Committee Report's critical areas for follow-up into the action plan:

Update the current goals or areas for improvement.

Update the appropriate tasks and activities.

Update other appropriate components, e.g., who is involved, who is responsible, the timeline, the ways of assessing progress, and the fiscal and personnel)

"WASC accreditation is both a school improvement process and a staff development process. and the two work very well together. The process enables schools to continue to look at their mission statement and the priorities that they have to explore new options and strategies. I do believe the accreditation process contributes to that dialogue."

Dale Mitchell,
Former WASC Commissioner,
Superintendent,
Fallbrook Union High School District
Fallbrook, CA

"As a school that went through the accreditation process it really caused us to sit down and evaluate, quite honestly, where we were and what we want to do to improve. That accountability may not have happened if we weren't going through the accreditation process because it is so easy to just remain at status quo."

"The WASC process is a test but it is a test of yourselves. It is a test of the school and determining the direction and determining what is best for students and what is best for learning and what is best for staff. It is a challenge that staff should accept in order to get better and to do a better job and fine tune where they want to go."

Howard Mahoney,
Former Principal,
New Technology High School,
Napa, CA

It is the policy of the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC) to maintain privacy in regard to all personal information that is collected from educators who volunteer to serve on accreditation Visiting Committees. ACS WASC asks volunteers to supply personal information to verify their name, place of employment, and other background data in order to qualify them for participation.

ACS WASC will not share or disseminate personal information to anyone outside of the direct ACS WASC accreditation process. Private information will never be sold or shared with other educational or corporate agencies without written permission from the volunteer. The opportunity to update/correct information is provided each year for volunteers.